Pride 2023 Week 4 – NIH Advancing Equity and Visibility for All

Posted by Jacqueline Leskovec on June 21st, 2023 Posted in: All of Us, Blog, News from NIH/NLM
Tags: LGBTQ+, lgbtq+ health

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

Did you know that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has an Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)? The mission of EDI is to “cultivate a culture of inclusion where diverse talent is leveraged to advance health discovery”. During Pride Month 2023, EDI’s theme is “Advancing Equity and Visibility for All”. Learn more about LGBTQ + Pride at the EDI Pride 2023 page.

The EDI website has an entire section devoted to Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM). Provided are SGM Resources, including a list of Executive Orders from President Biden. Also included is an explanation of the Intersex-Inclusive Progress flag, shown in the banner image above, designed by intersex columnist Valentino Vecchietti in 2021. The site also links to other Pride flag variations that represent diverse, intersectional identities. Want to learn more about intersectionality? The Office of Human Services Policy “Advancing Equity by Incorporating Intersectionality in Research and Analysis” is available for download.

While perusing the EDI Pride site, venture over to the Communities section for the blog post “Creating Safe Spaces: Why All-Gender Restrooms Are Essential for Health and Well-Being”. You can also follow the EDI Office on LinkedIn and Twitter, and you can watch EDI’s YouTube channel.

The All of Us Research Program

The All of Us Research Program encourages LGBTQ+ people to participate in research that includes all of us. The All of Us is program of the National Institutes of Health is changing how health research is done. Many groups had been left out of health research. LGBTQ+ populations did not self-identify in programs in part because of the stigma associated with being LGBTQ+. Secondly, until the Electronic Medical Record, patients were not identified as SGM in the patient record and were not required to be.

All of Us LGBTQ makes it possible for SGM to be included in medical research. Why join?

By joining All of Us, LGBTQ+ people can help ensure your community is included in health studies. These studies could help researchers understand health conditions that are more common among LGBTQ+ people. What they learn could lead to more tailored approaches for preventing and treating those conditions.

Happy Pride!

ABOUT Jacqueline Leskovec
Jacqueline Leskovec, MLIS, MA, RN (she/her) is the Network Specialist for NNLM Region 6. She is the lead for the Partner Outreach Program (POP), Network membership and user accounts, the Data Reporting System (DRS), and the Region 6 website. She has been with the Network since 2005. In addition to being a health sciences librarian, Jacqueline maintains her license as a registered nurse. She works from her home office in Chicago. She is well acquainted with power tools and will be happy to bore you with details of her many home repair and remodel adventures.

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